Preparing mineral waters fo r transpo rtation



UNIT rarns Parana. flames,

LUCIEN H. BARKDULL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PREPARING MINERAL WATERS FOR TRANSPORTATION.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 344,708, dated June 29, 1886.

Application filed February 15, 1866. Serial No. 191,004. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUOIEN H. BARKDULL, a citizen of the United States, residingin Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Preparing Mineral VVaters for Transportation, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in methods of. preparing liquids for transportation, and has for its prime object the reducing of liquids to a suitable form for transportation, whereby the cost of packing in any receptacles maybe obviated and oftransport ing the same be reduced, and the purity of the liquid against contamination during transportation insured.

A further object is to prepare liquids for transportation in such manner that, while the cost of package and transportation is reduced and the purity of the liquid protected and retained, the said liquids at the same time are always ready for instant use, and in a form most palatable and beneficial.

1n carrying out my invention I design to submit any freezable mixture or liquid to the act of nature or of artificial means of freezing, in order to reduce the said liquids to the form of an ice, and in such shapes and contours as will best subserve the purposes of storing them in suitable cars or vehicles for transportation.

Myinvention has more particular reference to its use in connection with preparing natural mineral waters for transportation and consumption, vast quantities of which are daily lost from the natural outpour of these springs, for the method now in vogue of preparing these waters for the market, consisting of storing them in cans. bottles, or other suitable receptacle of various sizes, is obviously inadequate to utilize the entire product of these springs, and aside from the loss of material comes the immense cost of packing and transportation,which necessarily places the market price of these waters at such a figure that a comparatively small amount of them can be sold. The packages of themselves are very expensive and require a verylaborious process in the manufacture to prevent contamination of the waters contained therein, the market value of which is materially lessened by their slightest contact with the solder employed for uniting the joints of packages of material other than glass, which is the cheapest form of packing, and is therefore most generally used, for the expense ofbottling is almost out of the question,and when transported in bulk they are not only subject to great loss from leakage, but are also liableto contamination from other commodities shipped in company therewith, and even from the atmosphere itself. In addition to this, all these forms of package occupy a great deal of space and add such weight to the water that nearly two-thirds of the cost of transportation is paid for these same packages, which have to be returned to their original point of shipment empty and useless, but which must be paid for as so much freight. By the employment of my invention these waters may be led off from the springs to ponds, tanks, or other suitable receptacles, to be acted upon by nature during the winter months, or by any suitable ice-machines during either summer or winter, or else subjected to the action of a freezing-mixture in any well-known and convenient manner, by which the water may be reduced to the form of ice molded in any suitable shapes of blocks, or cut up after being congealed, and in this manner the entire supply of these natural springs may be utilized and readily reduced to the form of ice for shipment to any suitable point.- This ice will obviously retain all of the medicinal qualities and purity of the natural water, and in trans portation would require no covering or package whatever, but may be shipped in the same manner as obtains in the transportation of ordinary ice, or be utilized for the purpose of refrigeration in suit-able cars so constructed that the drip or water from the said ice may be caught and held until the car reaches its destination, when the said water may be drawn off and placed in any suitable receptacle, ready for use; and if these cars are so built asto have an air-tight ice-chamber it is obvious that no contamination of either the ice or the water melting therefrom could occur, no matter what grade or class of commodity the refrigeratingcar might contain. In this manner the use of the ice for the purpose of refrigeration would fully pay for the cost of its transportation; but even if packed and shipped in the ordinary manner there would be enough additional Vice shipped in place of the packages now employed for containing the water to reduce the cost of transportation of the total amount to at least one-third of the present cost, which would necessarily have the effect of reducing the market price and value, of these waters to. such a figure that persons in very moderate circumstances could well afford to make use of this ice, not only for its cooling properties, but for the medicinal properties contained in the mineral water, and the supply of this water by means of the method herein set forth could readily be; made to. keep pace,.with the consumptionth-e-reof. When receivedat itspoint of destination, this ice may be sold in that.

ner, but the first usev will likely prove the.

most preferable, because of the product of the melted ice being ice-cold mineral water; but while I have described, principally, the

use of my invention in connection with mineral waters, it is obvious that it-might be-employed-with equally satisfactory and beneficial results in connection with any other freezable liquid in which purity and palatability are the essential. points, butlin which the cost of transportation now figures, to such and are distinguished from ordinary waters, whether spring or otherwise, which are not recognized in the tradeas mineral or medicinal waters, and which in the form of ice are and can only be used for the one sole purpose of cooling or refrigeration, and have no intrinsic value whatever, except when in the form of ice, and therefore when melted become so much waste. water, of no market or domestic value beyond that of any ordinary water within the reach of all, for the principle or method involved in my invention has reference only to the reduction of liquids having an intrinsic,

value other th-antheir market value as ice, for

the purpose of protecting and retaining the purity of suchliquids against: contamination during and to save-costin their transportation, and, further than this, to utilize a vast amount of marketable commodities nowtlost, because of the methodsof transportation nowinvogue, which, increase. the cost at the point of, consumption to such: figure as to. place them practically beyond the reach, of I the majority of mankind; and the method herein set forth will be. found of speeial benefittto those parts of the country'in which, al1though thesupply of water is,abundant,iti'ssoim'pure,even when reduced to the form of ice,as to beunhealth-y, and therefore: unfit for use for all domestic purposes.

Having described my invention, wh atI claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The herein-described method of prepar- 

